A much-respected long-term staffer was farewelled from Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) last week as she prepares to begin her retirement.

Diana Manson, a long-term local whose grandparents moved to Wānaka in 1935, has worked for the QLDC parks service for 12 years, and has liaised with a wide range of community groups during that time.

Diana told the Wānaka App she felt lucky to have worked with the parks service, doing council’s “feel-good stuff”.

“We do get our share of flak as well, but we do get to do concrete positive things with and for the community, that do make a difference and that people can see,” she said.

“That’s what I’ve most enjoyed about the role.”

At Diana’s farewell morning tea on Wednesday (November 27) her manager, QLDC parks service delivery manager Clare Tomkins, described Diana as a “calm and steady influence”.

“[Diana] is the exemplar of the ability to bring people together to achieve many wonderful projects for the community. Many working bees, planting days, meetings, meet and greets, workshops, presentations etc.

“I know we will see plenty of her in her roles as a volunteer on the other side. She will be a very present figure in the community, and I am sure she will continue the wonderful work she does, holding us all to the high standards of engagement she has set.”

Diana was farewelled last week. PHOTO: Supplied

Diana said she’s planning to “take a step back, relax and enjoy the garden and the grandkids”, but she also plans to stay involved with some of the groups she has worked with.

Those groups include Wānaka Backyard Trapping (now Predator Free Wānaka), Te Kākano Aotearoa Trust, the Hāwea Food Forest, the Wilding Tree group, Upper Clutha Tracks Trust, the Hāwea Foreshore Group, and the regional community associations - and more. 

She noted that community volunteers aren’t all retired, but are people of all ages working together with “boots on the ground”. 

“We’re so lucky to live in a community that has people who will freely give their time, and have been doing so for years - working really hard for the community.

“That is what makes this community really special, I think.”

Diana has spent her life in the Upper Clutha, and was happy to reflect on how the area has changed.

“The town has certainly changed and has grown but it has still managed to retain that small-town feel … and a lot of that is to do with the community groups and organisations and their involvement, and the festivals and events … that bring people together. 

“I think we still have that real sense of community.”